Fairy Princess of the Gold Coast
by amandajbruce
Summary: Set during episode 2x17. Fly reflects as Edge prepares for a surfing safari.


Fairy Princess of the Gold Coast

"Alright then. Sounds good. I'll get it sorted."

Those are the words that floated through the kitchen as Fly walked her dishes over to the sink. When Edge hung up the phone, she turned to him, not expectantly like everyone else in the house would, but more to make sure he was okay. His voice and his words sounded like he's okay, but he just hasn't been himself lately. And Dean Edgely, surrogate big brother to her, is someone she wants to make sure is okay before he leaves the safety of the Solar Blue house again and heads out into the big bad surf world that has him out of his head.

"That was Heath. He says to say hi."

Those are the words that he said when he met her eyes. And there's nothing apologetic to them. His eyes aren't downcast like the other people in the house when they mention his name. It's kind of nice to have someone here who isn't privy to the whole Fly and Heath saga of the earlier part of the term. It's nice to have someone who knows them both so well, and who isn't automatically jumping to conclusions about how she must be feeling right this minute.

"How is he?"

Don't ask about Annabel. Don't ask about Annabel. It was a mantra repeating in her head. It was like her brain was the needle of a record player that got stuck on the same groove. She didn't need to repeat the phrase in her mind though. She wouldn't have asked. She couldn't bring herself to say the name. She couldn't even bring herself to talk about Heath most of the time, let alone the girl in question. If he was brought up in conversation, she just forced a smile and waited until the topic moved along to something new.

"Yeah, good, you know. Same old." Edge shrugged it off and looked away.

"Yeah." So, maybe he did know something about what happened between them. He did look guilty.

And then Edge rushed to fill her in on his plans with Heath. He was skipping out on a comp in Fiji and quitting the circuit altogether.

_Or maybe not. _

Once Edge was safely in a cab on the way to the airport, Fly had time to reflect on the ache she'd been feeling since he told her about the surfing safari he and Heath had planned. She kept telling everyone that this new Edge, the one who hated competing, had sneaked up on her. That what bothered her about his visit was that she hadn't seen it coming. And that was all true. But it wasn't Edge quitting the circuit that had left this weight in on her that she couldn't quite shake. It was Heath. Wasn't it always?

It wasn't like they weren't talking at all anymore. It wasn't like their friendship was over since Heath had told her about that girl. Really, it had been a few months now. She and Heath had exchanged a few casual emails about surf conditions. He'd sent her a few photos from some low level comps, mainly of people wiping out, ones that hadn't made it into the magazines, with his funny comments typed along the bottom. They were getting back on the _real_ friendship track. She shouldn't still feel that pang of regret when Edge said his name. It wasn't like everybody met the person they were going to spend the rest of their life with at fifteen. That was just unlikely. Nobody actually believed that would happen.

Unless you were a naïve farm girl who had been raised on stories of damsels in distress and fairy princesses by a bunch of boy crazy older sisters.

Fly had never been boy crazy though. She still wasn't. She wasn't the type to ogle a pretty face, or to give her heart to the first guy who offered up a little attention. And she had never really wanted to be rescued by a prince. She thought fairy princesses were a little stuck on themselves, to be honest.

Hadn't that been what Heath called Perri? The fairy princess of the Gold Coast? And he was on the Gold Coast now, working for Trax in their brand new offices, seeing that girl. Or was he? How could he just go off with Edge to search for the perfect wave if he had a job there? Unless this was some sort of assignment for the magazine?

Fly wondered if she was like Perri at all, the girl whose name she wouldn't say. If she was as pretty, as fashionable, as worried about how others saw her. Heath had made it very clear, once upon a time, that he had no interest in girls like Perri. But then, once upon a time, he had fallen for a girl named Jane fairly quickly, hadn't he? And she was a bit of a princess too. And Perri had turned out to be so much more than a fairy princess. Perri was like another big sister, someone Fly had been able to confide in, someone who could get Fly to spill her secrets as quick as a tick. This girl, was she as sweet as Perri?

Fly doubted it. Fairy princesses were all masks and mirrors, glitter and big smiles. But everything that glittered was not gold, right? That was how the saying went. Fairy princesses hid their venom well. They were fake. Perri wasn't fake; as far from it as she could be. That much she knew. This girl, whose name she couldn't even bring herself to say, she hoped, for Heath's sake, wouldn't be a fairy princess, that she was as sweet as Perri, and that she was giving him everything Fly hadn't been ready to give. She hoped for her own sake that this mystery girl was the exact opposite. Because that made it easier to direct her anger somewhere else. Because it was too hard, and too exhausting, to be mad at Heath.

Yes, Fiona Watson could get to hate fairy princesses if she let herself. Especially the ones on the Gold Coast.

* * *

**A/N: I had started this on my computer a while ago, but never really did anything with it. I think I had intended it to be the start of a longer story, but I kind of like it as a drabble better. I have no idea why I'm so fascinated by Heath and Edge deciding to go on this surfing safari, because that idea from the show is actually in several of the short stories I've started. It makes another appearance here too. Hope you guys liked it!**


End file.
